Driving - Teamsters Local 25

Business AgentDedicated to Our Local Union MembersSecretary-TreasurerMark HarringtonI am pleased to report that Local 25and Allied Systems have reached asettlement on the mileage beingpaid out of the Brookfield,Massachusetts terminal. The casewas scheduled to go before theNational Grievance Panel.However, prior to the hearing of the case, Allied agreed toa resolution. I want to thank Steward Jim Black for hishelp in compiling the necessary information to enable usto be successful.President O’Brien has assigned me to the town ofHingham, Massachusetts Department of Public Works andthe 911 dispatchers. I look forward to working with andrepresenting those members. The town workers’ contractwill expire in 2007, so I’ll be holding proposal meetings soon.I have several grievances and arbitrations pending againstHeating Oil Partners in the oil division.I have upcoming negotiations with the TD Bank NorthGarden on behalf of the unloaders there.At Petro Heat and Power, Joe Peluso has been electedshop steward to represent service technicians. He willrepresent 60 coworkers. I want to thank former stewardsDoug Myers and Tommy Lynch for their service.Local 25 recently negotiated and signed a contract withSony Pictures for the new film “21.” The state Legislaturerecently approved a tax-incentive plan that will help attractmovies to the Bay State. This is the first major motion pictureunder the Sean O’Brien administration, and we look forwardto more work for our Motion Picture Division members.We recently held a contract-proposal meeting for ournewly organized Praxair workers in Waltham, Massachusetts.Negotiations will be coming up soon. Our new members atPraxair are eager to get their first contract.The new year is just the start of a challenging term for theO’Brien administration. Three national contracts will need tobe negotiated: UPS, Freight and Carhaul, not to the mentionthe related white paper agreements. The biggest challenge willbe maintaining health and pension benefits for our members.The International Union staff is prepared, and the leadershipof Local 25 is certainly ready. We will need our members’continued help and support. Together, we will keep yourfutures secure, and we will be ready to fight all the way.Vice-President andBusiness AgentJohn MurphyWe completed negotiations atDHL/Global Forwarding, andworkers ratified the contract by a2-1 margin on November 10.Thanks to everyone for stayingunited. Local 25 represents about30 workers at DHL/Global Forwarding.I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky in early November toprepare proposals for UPS Cartage Services Inc. (CSI)negotiations. (See accompanying story in this edition ofThe Spokesman.) We are scheduled to exchange contractproposals with CSI in early January, and more negotiationsare scheduled for February.We are currently in negotiations with Cambridge OffsetPrinting, a Teamster-represented printing company thatprints Local 25’s fliers and newsletters. We are trying to getour members a wage increase and we want them to be coveredby the New England Teamsters Pension Fund.The Eastern Region Grievance panel, which is hearing theArticle 32 DHL case involving 150-pound packages that havebeen diverted to Danza, has been deadlocked. The case isbeing sent to the National DHL MCLAC (Motor CarriersLabor Advisory Committee) grievance panel. I sit on thatpanel and I’m looking forward to resolving the issue for ourmembers. Also, the Article 32 DHL case involving the@Home U.S. Postal shipments was not heard because thecompany refused to sign the submission forms. TheInternational Union is now handling the case and the casewill be heard soon by a special committee.At Yellow Freight, a couple “changes of operations” proposedby the company will be heard in January. I serve aschairman of the Southern New England NegotiatingCommittee for the union’s National Freight Division, so I’llbe hearing the case. We are opposed to a premium servicechange of operations, but we don’t have any objections to theservice-enhancement change of operations.Meanwhile, Yellow Freight’s clerical change of operationswas deadlocked at panel. The company wanted to removework from several areas, including within Local 25’s jurisdiction,but because the case deadlocked, the company’s plan wasput to a halt. That’s good news for our Yellow clerical workers.Finally, we’re keeping our eyes on Wonderland Dog Track2 | The SPOKESMAN | WINTER 2007 | www.teamsterslocal25.com